BENGALURU: A young woman in Bengaluru took an Ola cab to the airport and suffered a ride to hell as the driver took a detour, allegedly molested her and forced her to strip for photos that he shared on WhatsApp.
The woman, a 26-year-old architect, was on her way to the airport to catch an early flight to Mumbai around 2 am on Friday June 1 when the cab driver allegedly took a different route, just before the toll gate, claiming it was faster.
The woman has told the police that the driver stopped the car at a deserted spot near the airport, locked her in and assaulted her. He allegedly snatched her phone and threatened to call his friends and have her gang-raped if she alerted anyone.
The driver also allegedly forced the woman to strip, after trying to choke her. He took photos and allegedly shared them on WhatsApp.
To escape the driver, the woman allegedly begged him and assured him she would not tell anyone. Convinced, the driver finally dropped her at the airport. She then emailed a complaint to the police.
"Based on a mail from the woman, we have registered an FIR. We appreciate the lady for immediately informing the police, bravely," said senior Bengaluru police officer Seemant Kumar Singh.
The driver, Arun V, was arrested within three hours.
"We have issued notice to Ola Cabs asking why the police verification of this driver was not done," Mr Singh added.
An Ola spokesperson said: "We regret the unfortunate experience the customer had during the ride. We have zero tolerance for such incidents and the driver has been blacklisted from the platform as an immediate action."
The app-based cab aggregator added that the "safety of customers is our top priority".